Scarlett Johansson Offered $10 Million to Star in ‘Ghost in the Shell’

The last time we heard from DreamWorks' planned live action adaptation of 'Ghost in the Shell,' the studio was courting 'The Wolf of Wall Street' star Margot Robbie for the lead role. Now, things have changed and a bigger name has been thrown into the mix: Scarlett Johansson, aka, Black Widow, aka, 'Lucy,' aka, the most bankable female action star of the moment.

The news comes to us via Deadline, who slip it into a news story about a very different potential franchise. It seems that DreamWorks' negotiations with Robbie broke down, which is why she's now eyeing a role in the DC comics adaptation of 'Suicide Squad,' alongside Will Smith and Tom Hardy. However, Robbie's loss is Johannson's gain: a $10 million offer is on the table for her step into the lead role of 'Ghost in the Shell.'

Before it was the next big potential blockbuster from DreamWorks, 'Ghost in the Shell' was a massively popular Japanese manga and anime, following a badass detective who solves crimes in a complex, cyberpunk world filled robots and crazy technology and what-have-you. Johnasson would presumably play the Americanized version of Motoko, a cop who is saved by cyborg technology after an accident destroys most of her body. Naturally, her greatest strength (she's part machine!) is also her greatest weakness (she's no longer fully human).

It's a role that feels like the next proper step for Johansson, who earned her degree in butt-kicking as a member of 'The Avengers' but proved she was a wildly successful solo act with 'Lucy.' This could be the first step in her claiming a franchise to call her own.